


Let's make memories

by Aarashi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Children, Friendship, Gen, Hanging Out, Home, Nostalgia, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Running, Studying, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Training, Volleyball
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-10-21 00:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17632838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aarashi/pseuds/Aarashi
Summary: A collection of short stories about our favorite volley boys. A lot of talks, reflexions, sweet moments and, of course, volleyball.





	1. Golden afternoons

When the training ended, the sky was still painted of blue.

The voices of Tanaka and Nishinoya while they walked away from the gym were the last vestige of the practice. The floor was dry again and all the balls except one had already been collected and stored in the trolleys. However, they hadn’t picked up the net. He had asked them not to do it.

Hinata threw the ball into the air and run, his arm raised to hit it. He didn’t calculate the distance properly, his hand didn’t reach the ball and he ended up falling on the floor with a sonorous blow.

“Hinata?”

Suga was looking at him from the door, surprised. He had already got changed in his school uniform again and he carried his bag with him.

“Oh, Suga! I thought you all had already left,” said Hinata, standing up.

“Hum, I was about to. How is that Kageyama isn’t practicing with you?”

“He said he had to help his mother or something,” Hinata said, with a pitiful tone.

“And just now, were you trying to do a jump serve?”

“What? No! I mean… uh, kind of, I guess.” Hinata rubbed the back of his neck. “I suck at serving, so I thought I could give a try… but it’s too difficult to coordinate.”

“I wish I could help you, but I’m not good at serving, either,” Suga recognized, with an apologetic voice.

“Well, but you at least always manage to make the ball pass the net. And you are really good at aiming, I remember you doing it in Seijoh and Shiratorizawa matches.”

After a moment of hesitation, Suga entered in the gym and picked up the ball that was still on the floor. He smiled at Hinata.

“I’m not Kageyama, but do you want to practice some tosses? Just a few minutes.”

“Yeah, sure! Thanks, Suga!”

Soon, the sounds of the ball hitting his forearms and the tip of his fingers and the squeal of their trainers were the only thing that could be heard in the gym. They started with tosses and spikes, but they were soon just passing the ball over their heads, barely moving from their positions.

"You excited about Nationals, Hinata?” asked Suga.

“Yeah, of course! I wanna go to Tokyo and play in the same court the Small Giant did! And play against Kenma and Nekoma and Fukurodani and win a lot of matches!”

Suga laughed, eyes still fixed on the ball.

“I knew you would say something like that.”

“And what about you, Suga? Do you want to play there?”

“Yeah.” Suga smiled. His eyes hadn’t abandoned the ball, but somehow it was like they were looking at a distant place. “We had always dreamt about going to Nationals and this was our last chance. To be honest… I’m really looking forward to it.”

He took the ball Hinata passed to him, instead of tossing it back. He made it spin around, thinking.

“I know that it will be difficult,” he commented. “And I know that I’m not even a regular player, but… I’m happy we just managed to get here. I think we can be proud of that.”

He tossed the ball again; this time, it was Hinata who caught it. Suga looked at him, surprised at his expression.

“When I met Kageyama for the first time, in my school tournament… he told me something,” said Hinata, slowly. “He asked me if I was there just to make some fun memories. I answered him that I had come there to win.”

“Hinata…”

Suga’s gaze was difficult to read. Hinata suddenly realized what he had just said.

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean… I didn’t want to make it sound like…”

“You’re right,” Suga interrupted him. “Sorry if my words have made you think I don’t want to win anymore.”

“No, it’s not like… uh. I just can’t look anywhere but forward,” said Hinata, apologetically. “So now I can only think about winning Nationals.”

"That’s okay,” said Suga, smiling. “I think that’s how all of us feel now, and I include myself. But… I was just remembering something, too. You know, after our defeat in the Interhigh, I was advised about dropping the club, since the exams were close and I wasn’t a regular player. The club activities weren’t something I would be able to show afterwards. That’s why I told them I didn’t play volleyball for merit. I don’t care about that. In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about winning or losing, I was just thinking about how much I love this sport and how much I love playing with you all.” Suga smiled again. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to win.”

Hinata smiled back and he put the ball in the air again. It was a very different kind of training if he compared it with the ones he usually did with Kageyama. He wasn’t even sure if that was training, or just a talk, or a meeting. He just felt well doing it, he was touching the ball and he was with Suga, who also seemed comfortable. That was enough.

Obviously, it wasn’t something that he could be doing for hours. His body would soon ask for more movement, for chasing after the ball and jumping and spiking and feeling that amazing sensation. But it was okay for a while.

The minutes stretched on and the blue of the sky was replaced by warm colors, which enveloped the gym in a golden mist. Even when Suga said it was time to go and they both left, the last lights of the afternoon caressed his necks, reluctant to let them go.

“Bye, Suga”, Hinata said, when they reached a split.

“Bye, Hinata”, he answered softly. “See you tomorrow.”

As they walked home, following their own way, the sun ended up hiding, only leaving some golden pieces in the road, and that, familiar and pleasant, feeling of warmth.


	2. Warm mornings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the second story! Sorry for the mistakes that may be (English is not my first language), but I hope you enjoy, and feel free to make suggestions or whatever you like! I have some ideas about the next stories and I plan to mix characters from different teams, but all suggestions are welcomed. Thanks!

It was a cold morning, but he liked it. He was used to running under unfavorable conditions and the fact that his breath was condensing in the air was not going to stop him that time. To be honest, it was even pleasant. The sun was starting to rise and a faint mist covered the sky, distorting the soft blue.

Oikawa reduced the rhythm when he approached to the slope, an act that he made just for habit. The morning path was calm and beautiful, as he went towards the mountains and far from the city. It was strange that he met someone there at those hours. It was also a pretty intense path; the slopes weren’t particularly steep, but there were many, some of them barely noticeable for his eyes, but his legs felt them.

Running was one of the few things that he did almost every day, no matter what. It was a custom that he had since his last year in middle school and he couldn’t even consider the option of giving up. And especially those days, when he needed to have his mind busy. It wasn’t as he focused on every step, as he put his full attention in maintaining the rhythm. In fact, he did quite the opposite. He just let himself go. The same with his thoughts.

Sometimes, this wasn’t a good idea, not at all. His mind insisted in driving him to whatever that was there to bother (which usually was the same thing). It didn’t happen very often, but when it did it hit him hard. His running turned into a distressed race, an attempt to escape from his own mind. He didn’t make it.

But, fortunately, that wasn’t one of those mornings.

Oikawa found himself on the top of the slope, his breathing fast and heavy but constant, his legs ready to climb the whole mountain. He couldn’t suppress the smile while he continued, accelerating now that he was again in a flat land. The first rays of sun lighted the path. It really was a beautiful morning.

When he stopped, lungs burning and legs threatening to let him fall, he stretched next to a tree and he waited for his heart rate to stabilize a bit. Then he started the return, this time without earphones. He liked listening to music while he ran, but now that he had reached a very comfortable rhythm, he preferred to hear the sounds of the mountain: cicadas, birds singing, the whisper of the wind. His own breathing.

It was so pleasant.

Oikawa took his time to arrive home. Both his parents had already left to work, so there was no one there. He took a shower and he had something to eat, before going to his room and start studying.

Oikawa wasn’t a bad student. In fact, he would have been a brilliant student, if he just invested some more time. But he didn’t, at least, not until now. Each one had their priorities, and he had set his own a long time ago.

He studied for a couple of hours, until he felt his mind was starting to escape. He stretched out, picked his phone and checked his messages. As he had expected, Iwaizumi was already in the school. Oikawa prepared his bag and went out again.

Those days was very frequent to find the older students in the library, with their head stuck in a book or just spending the day and trying to convince themselves they were doing something productive.

When he entered, Oikawa saw some familiar faces, but he didn’t stop until he caught sight of Iwaizumi. He was alone in a table, surrounded by books. In that moment, he was making a pen swirl between his fingers, gaze fixed in a notebook, but he raised his head when he heard Oikawa approaching.

“Hey,” he whispered.

Oikawa put his hands on Iwaizumi’s shoulders and he shook them a bit, before taking a seat beside his friend.

“Hi, Iwa-chan. How are you doing?” he asked in a low voice.

“Fine, I guess. I’ve been here for nearly four hours.”

“Uh. And what are you doing? Oh, Physics?” Oikawa grimaced.

“Yeah. I’ve been stuck in this problem for like an hour.”

“Hum… You know my strong point is Math.” He took a look at the problem. “Hum… I’m quite sure I did that yesterday… Wait a sec.”

“Really?” Iwaizumi yawned as he dropped the pen and watched Oikawa digging in his bag. “Well, I won’t complain if you solve it.”

“Tsk, don’t think I understand it very well either… I just applied formulas and see if they work.”

“Hanamaki was quite good in Physics… He told me he and Matsukawa were to come, but I haven’t seen them yet.”

“Oh, here.” Oikawa put a notebook in front of them. “Is this the result?”

“Hm. No. What…?” Iwaizumi frowned. “No. God, you have just ignored a variable, you are worst than me.”

“Hey, thank you, at least I’ve done all the problems.”

“If you have done them the same way you did this one, you are screwed.”

“How mean!”                                                                                

The arrival of Hanamaki and Matsukawa saved them. Hanamaki patted Iwaizumi’s back and placed his hands on Oikawa’s shoulders, massaging them.

“What’s up, you two? How are our little studious friends doing?”

“Oh, Physics?” Matsukawa grinned. “You seemed to be struggling, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, kind of,” Iwaizumi said, while Hanamaki smirked and stretched his neck to see the notebook. “I was close, but…”

“Okay, let the physicist handle this.” Hanamaki hummed, reading the problem. “Hum, okay, easy… and here you have… okay… okay… no, wait, this is… What.”

“Oikawa,” said Iwaizumi, pointing a finger at him. He earned a reproachful gaze.

“Oikawa, what the hell, you have made a… I don’t even know what to say.”

“It’s such an offense,” added Matsukawa solemnly.

“Yeah, it’s an aggravating insult,” said Hanamaki.

“You have disgraced the noble science of Physics…”

“Okay, okay, enough! Ugh, I hate all of you!”

“Shut up, Shittykawa.”

“You too, Iwa-chan?!”

“We are in the library,” Iwaizumi reminded him with a furious whisper. And he added: “But you deserve that.”

“Mean!”

Hanamaki ended up solving the problem (“Sooooo easy, guys”) and after some more minutes they decided to go out, as they weren’t doing anything anymore. Oikawa sighed when they closed the door behind them.

“Ah, I’m worn out…”

“Let’s go to grab a bite,” said Hanamaki.

“What have you been doing in the morning?” asked Iwaizumi to Oikawa. “Don’t tell me you have got up at four again to study.”

“Of course not. I’ve gone running.”

“Ah, I should have gone, too,” commented Matsukawa, while they walked the path to a nearby cafeteria. “It’s been a while since the last time.”

“Yeah.” Hanamaki sighed, taking a glance to the closed gym.

They had slowed the rate without noticing. Oikawa felt a heavy silence falling upon them. The sight of the gym where they have spent so many hours, just in front of them, was so…

“Okay, we are not doing this,” Hanamaki said firmly, pushing Oikawa down the street.

“It’s okay,” said Iwaizumi, diverting his gaze and following them. “We have to focus in the exams.”

“Ah, exams,” said Matsukawa, yawning. “They are a just legend.”

Iwaizumi snorted and shook his head. They got into the cafeteria and they ordered before taking seat and getting rid of his jackets. The morning was warm and they could feel the sun in the crystal wall.

Oikawa hummed when he bit the milk bread and looked at his friends.

“What,” asked Iwaizumi, after a few seconds.

“These last days were quite awful,” he said lightly.

“Yeah, tell us something new,” commented Matsukawa.

Oikawa shrugged.

“I was just thinking. I felt fine today.”

It was true. Even with the presence of those thoughts greeting him as soon as he woke up, reminding him where he was and why he was there and not in another place, he had had a decent morning. The first one in many days.”

“Well, it isn’t as we are convicted or something,” agreed Hanamaki.

“We were just a bit damned,” added Matsukawa.

“Yeah, quite very damned,” said Oikawa. Iwaizumi punched him in the arm. “Hey, come on, just joking.”

“Anyway.” Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. “It’s true that we could be in other places, but… it’s what we have now.”

“Yeah.”

Oikawa smiled, a bit sadly, and after a sudden moment of inspiration, he raised his glass.

“What are we toasting for?” asked Iwaizumi.

“For the great results we are going to obtain in our exams?” suggested Hanamaki.

“For our triumphant exit of high school?” said Matsukawa.

Oikawa tilted his head.

“For more mornings like this?”

The four of them looked at each other before smiling and making his glasses crash.

“Good one, captain.”


	3. New times

“HEEEEEY!”

The players raised their hands together, wide smiles in their faces and high spirits. The other team looked a bit frustrated, but, above all, resigned. The owls had controlled the two sets and they had won without problem, that match was entirely theirs.

“Awesome job, guys, you’re the best!” shouted Bokuto.

As they approached to the bench and they picked up their bottles and towels, Konoha noticed that Akaashi was still looking at the other team, with a pensive look.

“Hey, you.” Konoha smiled as he gave Akaashi a soft shove. “Nice job, you were really accurate today.”

“Thanks. But I still have a long way to go. They were able to predict our last movement. Maybe I shouldn’t have relied so much on Bokuto-san, even though he was in top form today…”

“Ah, you should relax a bit, Akaashi,” said Konoha, shaking his shoulders. “Come on, we won, time to drink and celebrate.”

“Oh, yeah!” said Komi, joining them with a wide smile. “Are we gonna go somewhere?”

As Sarukui and Washio approached to discuss the plan, Konoha searched for Bokuto, who was talking animatedly to Shirofuku and seemed to have grabbed Onaga. Konoha saw his captain patting the back of the first year with a bit of unnecessary force and he denied for himself, but Akaashi went for rescue.

_Bless Akaashi_ , thought Konoha.

He remembered what the setter had just told him and he smiled. He couldn’t say he was surprised. Akaashi had always been calm and meticulous, and the only one that could follow the infernal rhythm of Bokuto. But he had particularly made a very good performance that day. Every member of the team had been impressive, to be honest. Well, not as anyone would notice if he made a good toss or a mediocre one, but Konoha was already used to it.

“So, what have you decided?” he asked, turning to his mates.

“We are between noodles and…”

“ONE MORE TIME!”

Konoha felt a shiver and he exchanged an alarm glance with the others before turning back and seeing Bokuto jumping to the court. The other team looked astonished and Konoha could not blame them.

“Come on, guys, let’s play again!” insisted Bokuto. “What with that faces?”

“Oh my, someone stop him before he gets murdered, please,” begged Konoha.

“Would it be so bad?” asked Sarukui.

 “Bokuto!” Washio called. “Come here for a sec.”

Bokuto obeyed. Konoha didn’t let go the resigned look from Shirofuku and the coach.

“Hey, guys, are you ready? Come on, let’s play another couple of sets…”

“Bokuto, this people want to leave,” said Konoha, pointing at the other team, who had started again the way to the bench. “See? They are tired and they have a long way in the bus…”

“But we have only played for three hours!” Bokuto’s lip twisted into a pout. “Don’t tell me you already want to leave…”

“We are going to grab a bite, come on,” said Komi. “Even you can’t say ‘no’ to a good portion of noodles…”

Konoha could feel Bokuto’s inner debate. His love for food could compete with his love for volleyball, but just when he was really hungry. Well, sometimes not even then.

“We have to celebrate our victory,” said Konoha, suddenly inspired. “It’s good for the team’s spirit.”

“Oh, yeah.” The rest of Fukurodani members agreed.

“Uh, if that’s the case, then… sure! Let’s go, I’m hungry! Hey, hey, hey!”

And with that, he ran towards the changing room, not bothering to wait for them.

“Uh.” Komi smiled and patted Konoha’s arm. “Nice save, dude!”

Sarukui smirked and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

They followed Bokuto at a slower pace. When they got out of the gym, already changed in clean clothes, they had to close their eyes because of the sun. They had played at home, so now they had the rest of the afternoon free, not long and boring trips waiting for them. Komi had already suggested a place that was not far from there and Bokuto was nearly running. Akaashi was following behind, taking of care of his captain not being knocked down by a car.

Konoha felt the heat caressing his eyelids and, damn, it felt so good…

“Nooooooooo!”

They all turned their head at once. They were walking next to a park and a green space. Some trees offered shadow behind and there was a little river running under a slope. On the top stood a group of children and they had the same discouraged expression in their faces.

“What’s wrong?” asked Komi, curious.

Konoha followed the kids’ gazes’ direction and he discovered the reason of their distress. There was a ball floating in the river, slowly going down with the current. One of the children tried to get down the slope, but his feet slipped dangerously and one of his friends caught him before he fell.

“They seemed to be in trouble,” commented Sarukui.

“It’s not a very proper place to play with a ball,” said Washio.

“Oh, but look at them,” protested Komi, smiling. “They were probably just having fun. It’s not as they have many chances, this park in one of the few in this neighborhood…”

“They reminded me of old times,” said Sarukui. “I also liked to play in the mud.”

“Yeah, yeah, me too!” shouted Komi. “Hey, Washio, don’t tell me you didn’t do such things when you were little.”

“Hmpf. Just because I had to take care of my cousins,” muttered Washio.

“Ah, those were good times…!” sighed Konoha.

“Don’t say it as we were old men,” protested Komi.

“You were the one talking about old times!”

“Well, the one who talks about old times talks about when we were twelve.”

“Yeah, and fourteen,” said Sarukui.

“And sixteen, if you are talking about you lot,” added Washio.

“Wo, but that was only two years ago?” said Konoha.

“I always knew you were great at Math.”

Konoha slammed Komi’s head, annoyed, while the sweeper laughed. Bokuto and Akaashi had stopped a bit further and they were also looking at the children. Akaashi’s arm was stretched; it seemed Bokuto had tried to approach.

“Hum… Shouldn’t we help them?” asked Onaga after a while.

“Nah.” Sarukui smiled and kept walking.

“It’s their business,” Washio explained, with a little smile. “And it seems like they don’t need any help. See?”

The children had arranged themselves in a chain, and one of them was already at the foot of the slope, covered in mud but with a determined look. Konoha kept walking after his friends, but even when they got past the park he managed to hear the delighted laughs of the kids.

“Shit, Komi,” Sarukui said suddenly.

“What? What was that for?”

“I feel old now.”

“Old?” repeated Akaashi, blinking.

“Ah, you didn’t hear it… We were talking about how we will never play like children again.”

“Hum. I see.”

“Akaashi is too polite, I bet that’s his way of saying ‘Yeah, believe whatever you want’”, Konoha smirked.

“But what are you guys talking about?” asked Bokuto. “We are only eighteen!”

“Yeah, but eighteen years mean that we are about to end high school,” Konoha replied. “So…”

“So what?”

“University, dude,” said Komi.

“And?” Bokuto shrugged.

“Yeah, and?” Komi frowned, as he had suddenly realized what they were talking about. “You are sinking me, guys. University means a lot of fun and…”

“That’s only in films,” Konoha muttered.

“And volleyball!” Bokuto shouted. “As long as we can play volleyball, everything will be fine.”

Konoha sighed.

“There are so many ways I could ruin that sentence.”

“Don’t,” Akaashi begged.

“Just let him be.” Washio smirked.

“Hey, is that a cat?”

Komi was pointing at a silhouette in the river. They had been following its path without realizing, and now they were near the green zone, very similar to the one in which the children had been having fun. Konoha discovered a little creature curled in a rock, in the middle of the water.

“Yeah, it definitely is a cat,” said Washio, approaching.

There was a slope even steeper than the other. The ground under their feet was covered with mud.

“How the hell has it managed to get there?” asked Komi.

“Dunno. It’s a cat. Cats do strange things,” Sarukui replied.

“Do you think it’s lost or…?”

“DON’T WORRY, MR CAT, I AM GOING TO SAVE YOU!”

Konoha barely had time to process those words before a bunch of arms stretched to hold Bokuto.

“No,” said Washio.

“No way,” added Konoha.

“Bokuto-san, please.” Akaashi seemed already resigned.

A couple of minutes later, they were reproducing the human chain the children had done before. While he held Komi’s and Sarukui’s hands, Konoha asked himself for the nth time why he always agreed for such things, if he didn’t get paid.

“Can someone explain why we always end up like this?” he commented lightly, tightening his arm while Komi tried to reach the cat. “And why we always drag our kouhais with us?”

“Akaashi is used to worst things,” commented Sarukui. Akaashi didn’t deny it.

“Hum. I’m fine,” added Onaga, who was holding Bokuto’s hand at the beginning of the chain.

“Komi, do you have it?” asked Washio.

“Nope, just a bit more, guys…!”

“Tomorrow I’ll be stiff, and not precisely because of volleyball,” Konoha muttered.

“Sad but true,” Sarukui said.

“Come on, guys, it’s just a poor cat, we can’t leave it there… why if it drowns?” Bokuto said.

“Why don’t you go down there, then?” suggested Konoha harshly. His arms were already aching. He contained his tongue for not adding ‘And drown yourself a bit.’

“Okay!” Bokuto shouted. “I’ll go myself!”

“Wait, what?”

“I can nearly touch it!” Komi announced.

“Onaga, I’ll let you go, just grab Washio there…”

“No, wait, what are you…?”

“WHA!?”

The tension that had kept Konoha’s right arm burning suddenly disappeared and he saw himself falling forward, into Komi’s back and then into the fresh, muddy water. He had just got out when Sarukui, Akaashi, Washio, Onaga and Bokuto also fell, driving him into the water again.

“You. Are. An. Idiot.”

Konoha pushed Bokuto’s body so he could stand up again. Komi emerged besides him, spitting mud. Onaga, Sarukui, Akaashi and Washio’s hair was also covered with mud. Konoha was happier without taking a look at his own. Bokuto seemed unharmed, but Komi threw a bit of mud to his back.

“Nice toss,” Akaashi said.

“Sure, man.”

“Uh.” Bokuto stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, guys. That’s my mistake.”

“You think?” said Konoha.

“Where is the cat?”

The cat was in the water. Swimming towards the edge. It got out, scaled the slope without difficulties and disappeared between brushwood.

“I told you cats do strange things,” Sarukui said.

“I hate cats,” Washio said.

 Konoha let out a deep sigh before walking awkwardly to the shore. His legs were covered in mud. He could feel lucky that he had left his phone in his bag with the others, at the top of the slope.

“Well, at least now we know that the cat could swim.”

All heads turned to Bokuto’s.

“We have just emerged from a river of mud,” said Washio. “Don’t make me carry you there again.”

“We can play a bit here, our clothes are already soaked...”

“No.”

“But…”

“No way.”

“I didn’t even…”

“Get your ass out of there.”

Bokuto pouted.

“Akaashi…?” he tried.

“No. Now, please, get out of there, you are going to get ill.”

Konoha already felt he was getting ill, just for staring at the slope that they had to climb. The mud and their soaked clothes didn’t help. Only after half an hour of fight they reached the top, with their hands full of bruises and their foreheads leaking sweat. Konoha let himself fall in the ground with a groan.

“Oh, man, never again.”

“I’m hungry,” Komi complained.

“Yeah, I am, too,” Bokuto said. “Why haven’t we already gone to eat something?”

There was a tense silence.

“Please, somebody kill him,” Konoha asked.

“Hey, guys.” Sarukui was looking at his phone. “Shirofuku texted me to ask if we have already eaten or if we are lost somewhere. She says we can go to her house, her mother has made waffles.”

“We are covered in mud,” pointed Akaashi.

“But the school is in our way,” said Komi, smirking. “We can have another shower there.”

“Yeah, I want waffles!” said Bokuto.

Even a couple of hours later, comfortably sat with dry clothes and a plate of waffles in front of him, Konoha felt like he was growing old for those kind of things. Nah, in fact he wasn’t at all, damn it. He was going to remember that afternoon for years, but after all, that was the objective, wasn’t it? When they were children, they just had fun, without thinking; now, they made sure of treasuring the memory.

“See?” said Komi. “We can still play and have fun. Maybe not like old times, but who cares about that?”

_Yeah_ , thought Konoha, seeing how Bokuto stole three waffles all at once. He smiled. _Who cares about that?_


	4. Videogames, cakes and home

“Oh, hello, dear. Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for having me. This is for you, grandma and I have just done it this morning…”

“Oh, you didn’t have to bother! Seems so nice…”

“Not a bother at all, I enjoy helping grandma with this kind of things.”

Kuroo gave the cake to Kenma’s mother and entered in the house after removing his shoes.

“Thank you, Tetsuro. Kenma is in his room.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yes, yes, he is fine. Sorry, I probably make you worry…”

“Uh, no, it’s just that...” Kuroo made a pause, feeling a bit awkward. It was not the first time Kenma’s mother asked him to come, but sometimes, if he thought for a while, it was strange that things had turned around that way.

“He is fine,” Kenma’s mother assured. “I think he’s just a bit tired, you know? Yesterday he had a tough day and today, well, I think he is still dealing with it.”

“Yeah, it’s normal.”

“Probably he just needs some distraction. Anyway, thanks for caring so much about him.”

Kuroo felt awkward again.

“It’s nothing. I mean… it’s the least I can do, after all.”

Kenma’s mother gave him a soft smile that reminded him of those past days, when he was just a child that went to that house in search of company.

“I’ll be here if you need anything.”

Kuroo said thanks again and he went up the stairs and into Kenma’s room. He blinked; he was surrounded by a sudden darkness, all the shutters closed so just a single ray of light could pass. He was able to see Kenma because of the shine that the game console’s screen let out.

“Hey,” he greeted, walking cautiously towards the bed. “What’s up?”

“Kuroo.” Kenma seemed a bit surprised to see him there.

“Yesterday you left school before any of us. Did anything happen?”

“Hum, no. Just tired.”

“Nothing to do with practice?”

Kenma rose his gaze from the screen.

“No. You thought I got injured?”

Kuroo did not really think Kenma had got injured, but he had to ask anyway. His friend returned to his game and Kuroo just lay in the bed, his eyes slowly getting accustomed to the darkness of the room.

It was not the first time they did that: one of them playing, the other staying, watching, sometimes making a comment. It was not going to be the last one. It first had started in a very different way, Kuroo remembered, and now . It was not as things had changed so much since then; well, yes, they had changed a lot, but still… Kuroo felt like they were not so different. One room, two boys, the music of a videogame filling that comfortable silence in which they could spend hours without noticing.

“You don’t wanna talk about it, do you?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Kuroo let his head rest on his arms and looked at the ceiling. “I’ve made a cake with grandma this morning.”

“I heard you talking with mum before. What’s it made of?”

“Hm just the basics, kind of normal. With a bit of orange and cinnamon.”

“Sounds good. I’ll take a bite later.”

“Great.”

“Are you staying for dinner?”

Kuroo shrugged.

“If you and your family don’t mind.”

“You know we don’t.”

Kuroo looked at the screen.

“New game?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s this about?”

“You are a suspect of murder and you are running from justice. You’ve got to hide while you try to solve the crime.”

“Hum, sounds interesting. But it’s not the kind of games you usually play, is it?”

“It’s been here for a while, but I hadn’t tried it. I wanted to occupy my mind with something different.”

Kuroo observed the screen while Kenma played. There was more dialogue than what he was used to see. The pace was slower, but the graphics were good. The music was also nice.

“Aren’t you hot? You’ve been locked up here for hours.”

“I’m fine, but you can open the window if you want.”

Kuroo looked again at the single ray of light that entered through the shutter, but he did not move. After a while, Kenma left the game console face down, hiding the other source of light, and lay besides Kuroo, his eyes closed.

“Resting your sight?”

“Hmpf. My head aches.”

Kuroo smiled. Kenma waited a couple of minutes; then stood up again and opened the door.

“Come on. I want to taste that cake of yours.”

Kuroo followed him downstairs. In other circumstances, he would suggest going outside, but that day Kenma’s house seemed a nice place to stay in.

“Do you wanna play?” asked Kenma, while they were sitting at the table.

“Hum?”  
“After this. Do you wanna try?”

“Uh, sure. Have you already got tired?”

Kenma shrugged, without looking at him.

“I’ve spent quite a few hours today. I can see you play now.”

Kuroo smiled. It was not what he had been expecting, but he was okay with that.

“Thanks for the cake, by the way.”

“You are welcome.”

“And thanks for coming.”

This time, Kenma looked at his eyes. Kuroo cut another piece of cake.

“Don’t even mention it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not editing in such a long time! I would like from now on to post once a week, but I can't promise anything. Hope you enjoy!


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